After studying Latin and philosophy, he went to Madrid, in 1838, to pursue a degree in medicine but turned to literature instead. Although his two early books, Ternezas y floras (1840; “Endearments and Flowers”) and Ayesdel alma (1842; “Laments of the Soul”), show the influence of the Spanish Romantic poet José y Moral Zorrilla, he broke away from Romanticism with his book Doloras (1845), simple verses of worldly wisdom much like proverbs, which were thought to herald a breakthrough into new poetic forms. Later he published Pequeños poemas (1871; “Little Poems”) and Humoradas (1886; “Pleasant Jokes”). Most of his verse contains little more than sentimental philosophy cloaked in a rhymed prose of affected simplicity.

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